Centro was let down by pacers

Denim wrote:

French Dawg wrote:

This is true. Whatever may be said about the hypothetical shape he may be in based on this is all well and good for speculation, but what really matters is we have a big PR here from a guy who’s already been racing for years and who is known to have great tactical prowess. Going into the Olympics next week you have to be excited as an American fan to see what the master of positioning will do with this new level of fitness

Meh, nobody would consider that a "big PR". Guy has run a 3:30 1500.

"excited to see what the master of positioning will do with this new level of fitness"

LOL! Okay, fan-girl.

This right here. Centro has already run the equivalent of a 3:47 some five years ago or something. Even w pacing through three laps, he only goes 3:48+ last night.

I’m not sure what his strategy is here. All he did was reveal to his competitors who are capable of 3:46 right now that they just need to run a fast race to drop him in the last 200. Also, he may have taken a lot out of his legs w Olympic rounds not too far off now.

I still think he can podium, but this time trial didn’t give me confidence, unless he is being sly and wasn’t really going for the record. Which is possible. I do think the pacing could’ve been better, but, still, that doesn’t get him to 3:46.

It IS possible he was sandbagging last night for his Tokyo rivals....possible, but not probable. We shall see..

girl watcher wrote:

kmaclam wrote:

Yeah! What were they possibly thinking?!? A table was so obviously called for here. Kinda ruined it for me too. Geez.

Yeah we had the sideways view from Evan Jager and Vanessa Fraser.

It would have been nice to have heard a few comments from Jager and Fraser on their current training and racing plans. In particular, it has got to be stressful for Jager not to be on that airplane.

get Nick Symmonds and Kara Goucher. The have the personalities for commentating. Too much shoe gazing and shy smirking from those two.

Hayduke wrote:

get Nick Symmonds and Kara Goucher. The have the personalities for commentating. Too much shoe gazing and shy smirking from those two.

On a Saturday night with thousands of us out there anticipating the start of the track events in Tokyo we'll take almost anything. I'm beginning to feel like an addict. There's supposed to be another Under Armour Sunset Tour meet tonight on Flotrack.

Kara has done a great job this year for NBC and she sounds like a pro. They could have even let her call the race. God help us, I hope NBC uses their best team in Tokyo.

People keep saying “oh he can’t hang if they go out hard” but what u don’t see is there was no one in front of him after 1000m.. if there’s a whole group of guys in front of him I’d bet he would’ve broken the record or gotten even closer. Still a pretty solid time either way and PR.

Denim wrote:Meh, nobody would consider that a "big PR". Guy has run a 3:30 1500.

This would appear to be a pretty good step in the right direction for Matt Centrowitz. There are 33 unique 1500m runners, including Matt Centrowitz, who have 3:30 bests. The 31 who mile bests average 3:50.78, with a median of 3:49.6.

If you can't run the last 800m solo, you don't deserve the record. Rudisha broke the world record in the 800 SOLO. Centro didn't even have to do that, just the last 600. There are no valid excuses. He is only in 3:49 shape.

It would have been better for him to go to Monaco and show what he's got in a loaded 1500m.

But I guess placing 7th-10th in Europe hurts Centro's olympic ego too much. He'd rather run a converted 3:32 in a race specifically tailored for him and against nobody.

This is almost like Adam Musab Ali from Qatar running his 3:32 SB on a warm up track in Doha. Except we look down on athletes like him, but not on Centro, of course.

How often do both pacers tap out, at the same time?

PACING LIGHTS!!!!!!

elementtt wrote:

Don't think Thompson was suppose to drop that early with Amos. They also went out a little bit too hard however Centro didn't know any of the plan according to commentary. I think if he had better pacing, he could have either gotten it or ran 3:47.

rubbish.

He's too much of a drum major. If he is let down by anyone, its his coach. The guy runs like he doesn't want anyone to know he's running.

He hamstrung his potential by hiding the last 4 years. Now he is just trying to fluff up 2016. Its good that he is hitting out at this stage, but he should have run 3"49 4 years ago.

His arms are rigid, no movement through to help his legs, which look fine. Too smooth to move fast.

Centro was NEVER, EVER, going to get the American record. He is not capable.

elementtt wrote:

Centro didn't know any of the plan according to commentary.

Yeah right. Only posted on his Instagram before the race, that he is going for the AR, but of course didn't know what pace is required. If you believe that, then there's no help.

Yup, this is sad, always an excuse for everything, no responsibility taken. Blame the pacers, what.

Pacers or no pacers, if you say your going after the American Record of 3:46.91, you know what it takes. Centro needed to run that time, not the pacers, he failed.

Remember Henry Rono, breaking world records in conference meets in college, guess what, no pacers, solo.

Rono was man, not a boy like these guys, poor Centro and his pacers, what crap.

Rono didn't have burritos and super shoes either, just big brass balls.

Centro is a competitor. He's not going to run his fastest if he doesn't have anybody to pass in the final 400. It's hard for any athlete to tap in to that without actual competition. No one to blame here

elementtt wrote:

Don't think Thompson was suppose to drop that early with Amos. They also went out a little bit too hard however Centro didn't know any of the plan according to commentary. I think if he had better pacing, he could have either gotten it or ran 3:47.

Centro's 440y splits were 54.61, 57.43, 59.19 and 58.03, far from ideal pacing for optimal mile time. From this, Stat Gangsta predicts an ideally paced time of 3:46.67. I think he had the AR in him, he just didn't have the best pacing

It's still good work to get his legs used to Cheruiyot's or Ingebrigtsen's pacing behind Cheruiyot. And for Centro, the 54.6 was a killer. I hope he gets another shot at the American record this year after the Olympics. Usually he runs one Euro race after champs. If he doesn't just drop training like usual after the champs, he can go sub-13, according to Ahmed, and hence should also be able to challenge Bernard Lagat's 3000m AR of 7:29.

Maybe Tim will be nice and run slowly so Centro can keep up.

BuckleUp wrote:

Potato Tim now knows that he just needs to go out in 54 to take care of Centro.

Cheruiyot isn't concerned about Centro.